The Enchanted Evergreen/Part 5
"And so by the time me and Painter had smurfed back to the village, Papa Smurf was already there meeting with Arboria and smurfing on a solution that could help her smurf free of the curse," Timber told Polaris. And as Timber continued his story, Polaris saw that a crowd of Smurfs had gathered around the little tree that the four Smurfs brought into the village, and that Papa Smurf was there talking with the tree. "Ah, there you are," Papa Smurf said as soon as he saw Timber with Painter and Vini. "I see that you have smurfed the right thing in making sure this little elf named Arboria is safe in our village, protected from that evil giant." "I'm the one who asked for Timber's help, Papa Smurf," Vini said. "I'm Arboria's sister Vini, and I have been protecting her since she has been turned into a tree by an evil witch." "I see, and now you need my help in smurfing her back to normal," Papa Smurf said, stroking his beard. "I'm not sure what I could do, but I will smurf into my books to try finding something that will break the curse." "Whatever you can do, we would be grateful, Papa Smurf," Vini said. "Papa Smurf, do you need my help for anything regarding smurfing this tree back to normal?" Brainy asked. "I just need you to smurf out of my way for right now, Brainy," Papa Smurf said. "I can pretty much handle this situation by myself." "Uh, yes, Papa Smurf," Brainy said, sounding a bit downcast. "Gee, I'm just wondering what we're going to smurf if Papa Smurf can't smurf this tree back into an elf," Clumsy said. "We'll smurf what we can to make sure this tree and her sister are not parted from each other forever, my fellow Clumsy," Tapper said. "She would make a wonderful addition to my tree garden, if I were to smurf care of her in Vini's absence," Vanity said. "I hate tree gardens," Grouchy said. Meanwhile, Timber was with Hefty and Duncan, talking with each other. "I have to smurf you two that I'm really sorry smurfing out to smurf a Solstice tree without smurfing either of you with me," Timber humbly said. "Well, you should be careful the next time you smurf something like that, Timber," Hefty said. "You could have been smurfed dead by that giant." "Smurf easy on the laddie, Hefty," Duncan said. He then turned to Timber. "All I can smurf is that I'm proud of you for what you smurfed today, even if you couldn't smurf back here to smurf our help. You got the spirit of a true Smurfsman in you." "I guess I'm still not yet over losing my parent Smurfs," Timber said. "None of us are, laddie, but we're still alive and we got each other to smurf after now," Duncan said. "And though I don't like to admit it to every Smurf, you are all my brothers." "That's the last thing I would ever want to be when it smurfs to Gutsy," Hefty said. "Well, like it or not, you're smurfed with me, laddie," Duncan said. ----- "And so we waited for what smurfed like hours for Papa Smurf to smurf up with something to break the curse that Arboria was under, Polaris," Timber said. "And then finally, Papa emerged from his laboratory with a formula in his hands." And as Timber's story continued, Polaris then saw Papa Smurf emerge with a green potion in a beaker that looked like it had just been concocted. "Stand back, my little Smurfs," Papa Smurf ordered. "Let's see if this formula works!" The other Smurfs stood back as Papa Smurf doused the little tree with his formula. At first nothing seemed to happen, and then suddenly they could see the tree sparkling as it was slowly changing form from a tree to an elf who also had green clothes and wings, but had strawberry red hair as opposed to her sister's blond hair. "I...I...I...I'm free!" the tree now turned back into an elf said as she slowly moved parts of herself to make sure she was now mobile again. Then her wings fluttered and she flew a few inches above the ground. "Vini, I'm free!" "Welcome back, Arboria!" Vini greeted as the two elves held hands and flew in a circle with each other. Weepy stood there with a handkerchief in his hand, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I just love happy reunions," Weepy said. "I just hate...well, never mind, I'm not going to say it," Grouchy said. "Oh, thank you, Papa Smurf!" Arboria said, sounding overjoyed. "And thank you, kind Smurfs, for saving me. If it weren't for you, I would be nothing but ashes in the forest." "I'm happy to make sure you two would smurf a happy Winter Solstice together again, Arboria," Timber said. "Let's go home right now and tell our parents the good news," Vini said to her sister. "Yes, let's get ourselves home," Arboria said in agreement. And so the Smurfs watched and waved goodbye to the two elves that now flew off together back into the forest. Timber turned to Papa Smurf, feeling a bit ashamed. "Papa Smurf, I'm sorry for smurfing off into the forest by myself to smurf a Solstice tree all by myself without smurfing Hefty or Duncan along with me," Timber said. "I'll forgive you, Timber," Papa Smurf said. "The thing is, though you smurfed wrong in disobeying me, you also smurfed right in smurfing help to a helpless being in the forest. Your Papa Smurf would be very proud of you for smurfing that today." "I just wish he was here right now to smurf me that himself, Papa Smurf," Timber said. "I'm sure he's watching over you from the smurfy hereafter, Timber, to make sure you grow to be the kind of Smurf he would want you to be," Papa Smurf said. Just then Tapper felt something cold touch his skin. After that, he saw something sparkling and white fall down. "Great Smurfiny Crickets, it's starting to snow!" he exclaimed. The Smurfs all looked and saw that it was indeed starting to snow. "Oh, what a perfect night it is for a poem! I shall call it An Ode To A Snowfall," Poet said. "I hate An Ode To A Snowfall," Grouchy said. And as the Smurfs stood there watching the night sky, Harmony led the Smurfs into singing: Come, all ye Smurfdom, Joyful and triumphant, O come, ye, O, come, ye, to smurf this song Come and adore the Lords of Time and Nature O come, let us adore the... O come, let us adore the... O come, let us adore the King and Queen. Sing, Smurfs of ages, Sing in exsmurftation. Sing, all ye creatures of land, sea, and sky. Glory to Time and Nature in the highest. O come, let us adore the... O come, let us adore the... O come, let us adore the King and Queen. Yea, earth, we smurf thee, Smurfed this happy morning. To Time and Nature be all glory giv'n. Smurfed into being from this smurfy union. O come, let us adore the... O come, let us adore the... O come, let us adore the King and Queen. While they were singing, Papa Smurf thought he could see a familiar female face in the sky. "Lillithina," he said with a tear in his eye. The face looked at him with love that would last for all time. "Gee, Papa Smurf, what are you smurfing at up there?" Clumsy asked. Papa Smurf saw the face disappear, and then he turned to Clumsy and smiled. "Hope, Clumsy. Hope that we will someday smurf all our families again." ----- "This one finds it an interesting story, Timber, but this one is still curious to know what has happened to Evil Marduk and the fake golden pinecones he was given," Polaris said. Timber chuckled. "Well, fortunately Narrator smurfed to me the very thing that has happened to Evil Marduk when he smurfed with the creditors." And as Timber's story continued to its conclusion, Polaris saw that the bailiff and his men were gathered outside Evil Marduk's house with an assessor and a couple of guards standing next to a wagon. "...and because he's not repaid his loans to the pawnbroker, today we declare the seizure of all Master Evil Marduk's goods," the bailiff announced while reading from a scroll. "Wait, bailiff, wait!" Evil Marduk called out, racing as fast as he could with a sack he was carrying. "I have gold! Look!" The assessor took one of the pinecones and weighed it on a balance. "It's not even worth a carat," the assessor said, noting how light the pinecone was. The bailiff bit into another pinecone with his teeth and found out that not only was it brittle, it was also fake. "Pwah...it's a pinecone covered in gold paint! You don't mock the justice of the court!" He then turned to the guards. "Seize his goods!" Evil Marduk watched helplessly as the guards took everything out of his house. They even stripped him of the clothes he was wearing, leaving him with nothing but a barrel to cover his nakedness. The assessor went through the list of all Evil Marduk's possessions. "An iron ladle, a vial of coriander, a cast-iron cauldron, a talisman, two spoons, a chest, and a cat," he recited. "Load them all up!" the bailiff said to the guards. Evil Marduk watched all his goods and his own cat be loaded up into the wagon. "At least give me back my clothes, you pack of vultures!" he cried out. "You are worse that that little blue vermin who tricked me!" ----- Empath laughed when he saw that in the conclusion of Timber's story. "That evil wizard got what he deserved for trying to threaten a little elf that was cursed into being a tree," Empath said. "This one would wholeheartedly agree with you on that assessment, Empath," Polaris said. "We finally got our tree for the Winter Solstice that year, but it was nothing compared to what we smurfed for the elf sisters," Timber said. "This smurf could only wish to have been there for that adventure, Timber," Empath said. "Not that this smurf would have wanted to experience losing my Mama Smurf, but that still would have been worth being there for what you have gone through." "Anyway, we're finally home," Timber said as he, Empath, and Polaris had reached the outskirts of the village, with several Smurfs already starting to gather together to help them with the tree. "Oh, what a beautiful tree you have smurfed this year, Timber," Vanity said. "I hate beautiful trees," Grouchy said. "Mon ami, I can't wait to smurf it with all the decorations that I have smurfed for it this year," Painter said. "Let's make sure we can get this all smurfed up in the village center before we smurf any ornaments upon it, my fellow Smurfs," Brainy suggested. "I'll smurf the supports ready for the tree," Handy said as he headed for his workshop. Empath and Polaris both watched as Hefty and Duncan removed the ropes that held the tree onto the sled and then carry it together to the village center to have it be erected. Smurfette soon joined the two with Baby Smurf in her arms. "So you three have smurfed the perfect Christmas this year?" she asked. "Timber is the one who discovered the tree, Smurfette," Polaris said. "This one and Empath merely helped in making sure the tree was transported safely to the village." "This may sound strange, but I wish that I could smurf a Christmas tree that could talk to me so I wouldn't feel alone smurfing in my house all the time when it's too snowy out here," Smurfette said. "You would have had your wish many years ago, Smurfette, if you even existed when the Smurfs found that enchanted evergreen," Empath said. "I've heard about that story, Empath," Smurfette said. "I'm not sure if I can fully believe it actually happened, but I can be sure you Smurfs are telling the truth about things I wasn't there to witness." "Regardless of those situations, Smurfette, we should be grateful to witness the good things that are happening right now among ourselves," Polaris said. Smurfette smiled. "Sounds like Papa Smurf's wisdom is smurfing off on you, Polaris. Too bad he's busy smurfing his own things this year." "Well, whatever's going on with Papa Smurf, at least we can still have a very merry Christmas with each other this year," Empath said. "A very merry Christmas," Baby Smurf said, giggling afterward. THE END Category:Empath the Luckiest Smurf stories Category:The Enchanted Evergreen chapters Category:VicGeorge2K9's articles